Most of&nbsp;the City of London's&nbsp;parishes,&nbsp;Inns of court, and liberty precincts&nbsp;are held at the [[Guildhall Library]]. [https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://www.familysearch.org/searchapi/search/collection/1473014 FamilySearch] has indexed more than 90% of the christenings and marriages. [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1624 Ancestry.com] has digitised London's parish registers with the exception of&nbsp;All Hallows Barking. Transcripts of many of the City of London parishes have been published and are now out of copyright (published before 1923). Consequently, many parish register transcripts have been digitised and are available for free at [http://books.google.com Google Books] and [http://www.archive.org Internet Archive]. To determine if your ancestor's parish has been digitised or indexed, refer to individual parish pages.

Most of&nbsp;the City of London's&nbsp;parishes,&nbsp;Inns of court, and liberty precincts&nbsp;are held at the [[Guildhall Library]]. [https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/show#uri=http://www.familysearch.org/searchapi/search/collection/1473014 FamilySearch] has indexed more than 90% of the christenings and marriages. [http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=1624 Ancestry.com] has digitised London's parish registers with the exception of&nbsp;All Hallows Barking. Transcripts of many of the City of London parishes have been published and are now out of copyright (published before 1923). Consequently, many parish register transcripts have been digitised and are available for free at [http://books.google.com Google Books] and [http://www.archive.org Internet Archive]. To determine if your ancestor's parish has been digitised or indexed, refer to individual parish pages.

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[[Image:{{LondonGreatFire}}]]The Great Fire of London (1666) destroyed many London churches and their records. Historians have concluded that a great deal of underregistration of baptisms, marriages, and burials occurred in early modern London parishes.<ref>E.A. Wrigley and R.S. Schofield, ''The Population History of England, 1541-1871: A Reconstruction'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981).</ref>

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[[Image:{{LondonGreatFire}}]]The Great Fire of London (1666) destroyed many London churches and their records.

Few bishop's transcripts survive for City of London parishes before 1800. The exceptions being large numbers of returns that survive for the years 1629-1630 and 1639-1640.<ref>Cliff Webb, ''My Ancestors were Londoners: A Guide to London Sources for Family Historians'' (London: Society of Genealogists, 2009), 23.</ref><br>

Few bishop's transcripts survive for City of London parishes before 1800. The exceptions being large numbers of returns that survive for the years 1629-1630 and 1639-1640.<ref>Cliff Webb, ''My Ancestors were Londoners: A Guide to London Sources for Family Historians'' (London: Society of Genealogists, 2009), 23.</ref><br>

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Michael Gandy has concluded that even though most Londoners baptized their children Anglican in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many were actually irreligious and simply performed this rite to qualify their children for poor relief.

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Michael Gandy has concluded that even though most Londoners baptized their children Anglican in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many were actually irreligious and simply performed this rite to qualify their children for poor relief. Historians have also concluded that a great deal of underregistration of baptisms, marriages, and burials occurred in early modern London parishes.<ref>E.A. Wrigley and R.S. Schofield, ''The Population History of England, 1541-1871: A Reconstruction'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981).</ref>&nbsp;Church of England burial registers help alleviate lack of registration of deaths by the civil government in London prior to 1866.<ref>Cliff Webb, [http://www.origins.net/help/aboutbo-LondonBurials.aspx 'About Greater London Burials 1545-1909,'] ''British Origins,'' accessed 4 April 2013.</ref>

*Moens, William John Charles. ''The Marriage, Baptismal, and Burial Registers, 1571 to 1874, and Monumental Inscriptions, of the Dutch Reformed Church, Austin Friars, London. With a Short Account of the Strangers and Their Churches''. Lymington: King and Sons, Printers, 1884. Digital version at [http://books.google.com/books?id=_vQ1wYEf4SgC Google Books].

*Moens, William John Charles. ''The Marriage, Baptismal, and Burial Registers, 1571 to 1874, and Monumental Inscriptions, of the Dutch Reformed Church, Austin Friars, London. With a Short Account of the Strangers and Their Churches''. Lymington: King and Sons, Printers, 1884. Digital version at [http://books.google.com/books?id=_vQ1wYEf4SgC Google Books].

*'''1597-1648''' - ''A Calendar of the Marriage Licence Allegations in the Registry of the Bishop of London.'' London, 1937. {{FHL|242804|item|disp=FHL Book 942 B4b v. 62 1979}}.

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*'''1660-1700''' - ''A Calendar of the Marriage Licence Allegations in the Registry of the Bishop of London.'' London, 1940. {{FHL|295039|item|disp=FHL Book 942 B4b v. 66}}.

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==== Microfilms ====

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*Marriage license allegations in the Register of the Bishop of London, Diocese of London, 1597-1900. {{FHL|292204|item|disp=FHL Film 563011 (1st of 279 films)}}.

== Parish Chest Records ==

== Parish Chest Records ==

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== Historical Background ==

== Historical Background ==

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Click [http://books.google.com/books?id=tjEQAAAAYAAJ here] to read a contemporary description of the parishes within the environs of the City of London from James Elmes,&nbsp;''<span style="display: none" id="1267206418766S">&nbsp;</span>Topographical Dictionary of London ''(published in 1831). Each parish is listed under the name of the patron saint to which it was dedicated, i.e. St Mary Abchurch, will be listed under the "M" section under "Mary", or, St Lawrence Jewry will be listed under the "L" section under "Lawrence", and St Andrew Holborn, under the "A" section under "Andrew".

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Click [http://books.google.com/books?id=tjEQAAAAYAAJ here] to read a contemporary description of the parishes within the environs of the City of London from James Elmes,&nbsp;''<span id="1267206418766S" style="display: none">&nbsp;</span>Topographical Dictionary of London ''(published in 1831). Each parish is listed under the name of the patron saint to which it was dedicated, i.e. St Mary Abchurch, will be listed under the "M" section under "Mary", or, St Lawrence Jewry will be listed under the "L" section under "Lawrence", and St Andrew Holborn, under the "A" section under "Andrew".

Click [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=730390&word=NULL here] to read a description of the City of London&nbsp;from John Marius Wilson's ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales ''(published in 1870-72).''&nbsp;''

Click [http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/entry_page.jsp?text_id=730390&word=NULL here] to read a description of the City of London&nbsp;from John Marius Wilson's ''Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales ''(published in 1870-72).''&nbsp;''

Records

Most of the City of London's parishes, Inns of court, and liberty precincts are held at the Guildhall Library. FamilySearch has indexed more than 90% of the christenings and marriages. Ancestry.com has digitised London's parish registers with the exception of All Hallows Barking. Transcripts of many of the City of London parishes have been published and are now out of copyright (published before 1923). Consequently, many parish register transcripts have been digitised and are available for free at Google Books and Internet Archive. To determine if your ancestor's parish has been digitised or indexed, refer to individual parish pages.

Great Fire of London (1666)

The Great Fire of London (1666) destroyed many London churches and their records.

Few bishop's transcripts survive for City of London parishes before 1800. The exceptions being large numbers of returns that survive for the years 1629-1630 and 1639-1640.[3]

Michael Gandy has concluded that even though most Londoners baptized their children Anglican in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many were actually irreligious and simply performed this rite to qualify their children for poor relief. Historians have also concluded that a great deal of underregistration of baptisms, marriages, and burials occurred in early modern London parishes.[4] Church of England burial registers help alleviate lack of registration of deaths by the civil government in London prior to 1866.[5]

Guildhall Library

Original City of London parish registers are held at the Guildhall Library. The registers have been digitized by Ancestry.com and microfilmed by FamilySearch.

Family History Library

The Family History Library in Salt Lake City has just over 90 percent of the City of London's original parish registers on microfilm. These can circulated to any one of its 4500 family history centers worldwide.

Christening and marriage data has just about been completely transcribed and indexed and made available for most of the above 90 percent of the City of London's parish register holdings at the FHL and is available online in England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975 and England Marriages, 1538-1973 databases (formerly the IGI) at FamilySearch.org. The following parishes are not currently included:

Nonconformists

Moens, William John Charles. The Marriage, Baptismal, and Burial Registers, 1571 to 1874, and Monumental Inscriptions, of the Dutch Reformed Church, Austin Friars, London. With a Short Account of the Strangers and Their Churches. Lymington: King and Sons, Printers, 1884. Digital version at Google Books.

Marriage Licences

Online

1520-1610 - Allegations for Marriage Licences Issued by the Bishop of London, 1520 to 1610 at Internet Archive - free.

Microfilms

Parish Chest Records

Many parish chest records, such as churchwardens' accounts, vestry minutes, and rate assessments survive for the City of London. Most are held at the Guildhall Library, as identified in their online Anglican Churches, Chapels and Parishes guide. FamilySearch has microfilmed many of these records.

The Guildhall Library has also produced detailed guides to City of London parish chest records:

Churchwardens' Accounts of Parishes within the City of London, 2nd ed., 1969

Maps and Gazetteers

England Jurisdictions 1851 maps are based on multiple sources produced about 1851. Parish boundaries, contiguous parishes, civil registration districts and more are in this Web site. Go here to access.

Historical Background

Click here to read a contemporary description of the parishes within the environs of the City of London from James Elmes, Topographical Dictionary of London (published in 1831). Each parish is listed under the name of the patron saint to which it was dedicated, i.e. St Mary Abchurch, will be listed under the "M" section under "Mary", or, St Lawrence Jewry will be listed under the "L" section under "Lawrence", and St Andrew Holborn, under the "A" section under "Andrew".

Click here to read a description of the City of London from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (published in 1870-72).